Portuguese Broadcaster RTP Boards Cartoon Forum Player ‘My Brother Is a T-Rez’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Naman Ramachandran MetFilm Sales has acquired worldwide sales rights, excluding the U.K., to filmmaker Margy Kinmonth’s feature documentary “Eric Ravilious: Drawn to War.” Written, directed and produced by Kinmonth, executive produced by Maureen Murray and made by Foxtrot Films, the film is the true story of one of Britain’s greatest landscape artists. Eric Ravilious was the first war artist to die in WWII. Set against the wartime locations that inspired him, the film brings to life the undervalued British artist. Made in co-operation with Imperial War Museums, the documentary unfolds in Ravilious’ own words, through previously unseen private correspondence and rare archive film. Shot entirely on location in the U.K., Portugal and Ireland, the film features contributions from Ai Weiwei, Alan Bennett, Grayson Perry, Robert Macfarlane, Freddy Fox and Tamsin Greig.

Anna Marie de la Fuente In a clear vote of confidence for Colombian director Juan Sebastián Mesa, Bordeaux-based Dublin Films has boarded his third film “Lovers Go Home!” The company also co-produced Mesa’s lauded sophomore pic, “The Rust.” “Lovers Go Home!” centers on a Colombian single mom who leads a double life as a webcammer. One day she meets a U.S. veteran online who becomes obsessed with her. He flies to Colombia to meet her in person. Their meeting makes them reflect on who they truly are. In development, the project participated in this year’s Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum, one of San Sebastian Film Festival’s key industry events, which ran over Sept. 19-21. 

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor By now, Jaime Jarrín’s career milestones are as well-known to baseball fans as his voice.   The Los Angeles Dodgers’ legendary Spanish-language broadcaster is set to retire next month after an astounding 64 seasons with the team. He’s been a prominent voice of the Dodgers for virtually all of the Brooklyn-born franchise’s time in Los Angeles. After the legendary Vin Scully retired in 2016, Jarrín became the longest-tenured announcer in baseball.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Lima-based Apus Animation Studio has pacted with Spanish and Brazilian shingles to co-produce its projects, among them TV series “Chek & Chan” with Valencia-based Hampa Animation Studio and Apus’ first animation feature, “Nimuendajú: El Hombre que Encontró su Camino,” with Brazil’s Anaya Films. Apus presents “La Orquestita,” co-produced with Barcelona-based Mago Prods., at the inaugural Co-Production and Financing Forum hosted by the Iberseries & Platino Industria TV event in Madrid (Sept.27-30). Directed by Uruguayan Juan Carve, founder of chucho.tv, the kids animated series teaches kids about the mystery behind music, how it’s composed, why it move us. The 26-part, 11-minute episode series has already been sold to Argentina’s Pakapaka, TV3 Catalonia, Señal Colombia and pubcaster TVE, said Bonilla.

Anna Marie de la Fuente In its continued bid to create more premium content for the Latin American market under its Onza Americas banner, Madrid-based Onza Entertainment – behind such hit series as “The Department of Time” and a collaborator on Dopamine’s historical drama “Hernan” – is developing political drama series “Sattva.” Created by Spanish actor Ruben Sanz (“El Dragon”) and written by Int’l Emmy-nominated Luis Gamboa (“Promesas de Campaña”), the series is conceived as a transatlantic production between Mexico and Spain. Onza is presenting “Saatva” at Iberseries & Platino Industria’s new Co-Production & Financing Forum on Sept. 28.

Anna Marie de la Fuente “Money Heist” star Alvaro Morte is attached to star in “Talkies,” from “Luis Miguel” producer Gato Grande, which will be presented at the Iberseries inaugural Co-Production & Financing Forum on Sept. 28. “Talkies” covers the period between 1930 and 1934, an unusual time when foreign-language versions were shot on the same sets where the original English-language films were shot before dubbing or sub-titling technology existed.  Helmed by “Money Heist” director Alex Rodrigo and co-developed with Catalonia’s Veranda (“Merli”), the 8 x 45” series centers on the making of Spanish-language ‘talkies’ some of which, like the Spanish version of Bela Lugosi’s “Dracula,” were considered far superior. Morte will play the actor Carlos Villarias, who took on the Dracula role in the Spanish version.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Spain’s Marc Clotet (“The Sleeping Voice,” “15 Hours”) and Argentina’s Juan Gil Navarro (“100 Days To Fall in Love”), Santiago Achaga (“Like, La Leyenda”) and Esteban Pérez (“Limbo”) are attached to star in “Fragile,” a slice of Patagonia noir thriller from Argentina’s StoryLab.  Created and produced by StoryLab partners Nacho Viale and Diego Palacio, “Fragile” is backed by Flow, Telecom’s dominate Argentine SVOD service, and Televisión Publica Argentina, the country’s public broadcast network.  Palacio will direct “Fragile” (“Fragiles”) from screenplays penned by Lucas Molteni, whose has written on five StoryLab series dating back to 201’s “Estocolmo,” up-and-coming scribes Juan E. Cordoni and Luciano Cocciardi and Viale and Palacio. 

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Rodrigo Sorogoyen, director of “As Bestas,” “Riot Police” and the Oscar-nominated “Madre,” is bringing onto the international market “La Guerra,” a six-part drama delivering a new vision of the Spanish Civil War which looks like one of the biggest Spanish series ever made. Sorogoyen will direct all six episodes. Isabel Peña, Sorogoyen, and Eduardo Villanueva, “Riot Police’s”writing team, have fairly definitive version of three episodes with the rest at an initial phase.  “La Guerra” was originally set up at Movistar Plus+. In an amicable settlement – Sorogoyen has gone on to direct and promote an episode of Movistar+ original “Offworld” at last week’s San Sebastián – after Movistar Plus+ pulled out of the series, Sorogoyen and Villanueva’s Madrid-based label Caballo Films have recovered the rights. 

Anna Marie de la Fuente Stephen Kronish and Jon Cassar, showrunner and director-producer respectively of “24,” the ratings and critical hit which ran on Fox network for nine seasons, have boarded upcoming thriller series “Barcelona.” The news was jointly announced by transatlantic production company El Estudio, Jeff Berg’s Northside Services, Todd Slater’s Convoke Media (“King of Killers”) and Karen and Howard Baldwin (“Ray”) of Kemb Prods. who have teamed up to produce the ambitious project. “Barcelona” is one of 10 series being presented at the inaugural Co-Production and Financing Forum at Madrid’s 2nd Iberseries & Platino Industria TV event.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent After becoming a CNN affiliate two years ago Romanian 24-hour news channel Antena 3 is now set for a relaunch on Sept. 27 with new programming, state-of-the-art studios and more international news coverage prompted by its CNN partnership. The new-look channel won’t be CNN-branded like some other CNN affiliates around the world, such as CNN Portugal. However Antena 3 will have on air graphics making it clear that it is CNN’s exclusive news channel partner for Romania. The Antena 3 relaunch as CNN’s exclusive news partner in Romania comes after several months of the Antena 3 team working closely in tandem with CNN on all aspects of the channel: from revamping production and broadcasting to the actual news gathering process. As part of its partnership with CNN International Antena 3 will now have more access to CNN reporting and content for usage in its daily output. 

Former Spain and Manchester City midfielder David Silva has been fined more than €1,000 for hurting a woman during a brawl in Spain.

Ben Croll Capping an Iberian flavored edition that featured eight pitch projects and a spotlight on the national industry, Spanish outfits GoldBee and Peekaboo Animation won tributes at this year’s Cartoon Forum, with the Barcelona-based GoldBee named Investor/Distributor of the Year and indie production house Peekaboo Animation claiming the Producer prize. Rounding out the tributes with continental flair, Germany’s KiKA was awarded Broadcaster of the Year. Founded in 2013 and now boasting a catalogue over 2,500 titles strong, GoldBee specializes in half-hour children’s and family content, distributing animation and live-action productions to partners around the world. Projects like the Mexican-Spanish co-production “Cleo & Cuquin” and the British chiller “Scream Street” are but some of GoldBee’s notable titles. In keeping with German-Spanish pas-de-deux of this year’s tributes, the Barcelona-based GoldBee has found particular success with ZDF Studios productions “Ziggy and the Zootram” and “Henrietta.”

Nicole Scherzinger delighted fans with a series of new loved-up holiday snaps alongside her beau Thom Evans.LOOK: Nicole Scherzinger amazes fans with insane flexibility – see videoTaking to Instagram, the Buttons songstress shared a glimpse of her romantic trip to Portugal. In one photo the 44-year-old looked sensational in a figure-hugging maxi dress adorned with a striking yellow and blue pattern.WATCH: Nicole Scherzinger shows off impressive board skills in unseen beach videoHer summery dress featured a plunging neckline and a small cut-out on the front.As for makeup, the brunette beauty elevated her look with a touch of mascara, golden highlighter and a nude lip gloss.

Emiliano De Pablos As part of its objective of building into a key industry hub in the European animation and VFX landscape, Spain’s Madrid will host for the first time an edition of renowned training event Cartoon Springboard, which will run Oct. 25-27. 24 animated series and feature film projects by young European talents will be presented at the meeting, where a panel of experts will mentor the selected writers, directors, and producers with the aim of strengthening their projects both creatively and financially.  Organised by Cartoon, the training event reaches Madrid, after having been previously held in the cities of Valencia, Valenciennes and Halle. 

Caitlin Quinlan Pilar Palomero’s second feature film “La Maternal” had its world premiere in main competition at Spain’s San Sebastián Film Festival on Tuesday. The Spanish filmmaker, who won Goyas for best picture, best new director and best original screenplay with her debut film “Las Niñas,” produced like “La Maternal” by Valérie Delpierre at Inicia Films, returns to the Basque Country festival with another invigorating work that explores the challenges and joys of girlhood.  “I never made a decision to explicitly focus on girlhood,” Palomero says. “I think it’s a coincidence that both are about young women, but I guess there’s something inside me that I’m not aware of that’s leading me to this subject.” 

EXCLUSIVE: Keshet International has secured rights to Cuba Libre, a buzzy drama about a follower of Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara that’s being billed as one of Portugal’s most ambitious television series ever. The six-part biopic, based on the life of Ana Maria Silva Pais, will form part of KI’s slate at Mipcom Cannes next month.

The parents of Madeleine McCann have lost the latest stage of their legal battle over comments made by a retired Portuguese detective claiming they were involved in her disappearance.

Emiliano De Pablos Eight animated TV series projects involving Spanish companies will be presented to buyers and producers attending 2022 Cartoon Forum’s pitching sessions, the event’s main attraction.  Among well-known production companies presenting their latest cartoon shows figure In Efecto Atlantis, the Spanish-French studio behind Disney’s series “Tara Duncan;”Sygnatia, the producer of multi-award winning animated film “Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles,” and Peekaboo Animation, creator of world sales hit series “I, Elvis Riboldi.”  Two of the Spanish projects selected (“My Brother is a T-Rez” and “Polka Dot Zebra”) target preschoolers; five titles (“Bertie’s Brainwaves,” “Best Friends Forever… Stranded!,” “Mervyn’s Album,” “The Little Orchestra” and “Zoey Oceans”) are intended for older children; “Firsts” aims for family audiences.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Paris-based La Fabrica Nocturna Cinéma, producer of Chema García Ibarra’s 2021 Locarno winner “Sacred Spirit,” has boarded Gabriel Azorin’s “Last Night I Conquered the City of Thebes,” marking another financing milestone for his buzzy, poetic and time blending Spanish project.  A Locarno Match Me! hit. “Thebes” has been put through both San Sebastián’s Ikusmira Berriak and Madrid’s ECAM Incubator, rapidly consolidating as Spain’s foremost development labs which each attract about 270 applications a year.   La Fabrica Nocturna, whose credits also take in “The Heiresses,” joins Madrid’s Dvein Films, A Coruña’s Filmika Galaika (“They Carry Death”) and Lisbon’s Primeira Idade (“The Metamorphosis of Birds”) as a producer partner on “Thebes,” which won a RTP Award, consisting of the pre-buy of rights from the Portuguese public broadcaster, at late 2020’s Seville European Film Festival.